Configuration Guide

Dolphin has two performance related configuration windows: Dolphin configuration and Graphics settings, in addition to applying settings per game via their GameINI. Dolphin is a very demanding program, so configuring Dolphin the right way is very important to run titles smoothly.

Dolphin Configuration

Dolphin is shipped with default settings for the most optimal performance, you do not usually need to change anything on your first time Dolphin setup.

Enable Dual Core

Provides a significant speedup on modern systems. Recommended on most titles, though may cause issues like crashing or graphic issues on some titles. Refer to this page for a list of titles that require disabling Dual Core.

CPU Emulator Engine

JIT Recompiler is the fastest engine and is recommended on almost all titles. There are a few titles that work better with different emulator engines but unplayably slow.

Audio

DSP HLE is the fastest DSP Emulator Engine. It is very reliable, and only a few titles still have problems with it. See DSP LLE for more details. Cubeb is the faster backend. Recommended on almost all titles.

Graphics Settings

Some of these settings will improve emulation compatibility in exchange of PC performance.

General

Depending of the game and the graphics card: OpenGL or Direct3D 11 in backend setting will offer better performance. Vulkan is still in experimental phase and it still is not recommended.

V-Sync helps prevent screen tearing.

Use Fullscreen toggles between fullscreen and windowed mode.

Exclusive Fullscreen is available on Windows, it gives Dolphin full control over the graphics card. This results in minimal latency which is important for competitive games such as Super Smash Bros. Melee. More details on its benefits can be found on Progress Report of July 2014. D3D is well supported for Exclusive Fullscreen [1]. Support on OpenGL is more of a hack [2]. Exclusive fullscreen is enabled by default when it is supported, it can be disabled by checking the Borderless Fullscreen checkbox under Graphics > Advanced > Misc.

Enhancements

The emulation can suffer slowdowns from extreme multiplier options in Internal Resolution, Anisotropic Filtering, and Anti-Aliasing settings. Start with minimum option like "1x Native (640x528)", and go up from there until you can find the highest setting without slowdown. Keep in mind non-1x options may cause graphical issues in some titles.

Hacks

Skip EFB Access from CPU - Provides a speed boost. However it provides this boost at the expense of emulation accuracy, breaking some titles and removing effects. It's off by default for greater emulation accuracy.

Ignore Format Changes - The vast majority of titles don't care about this, and it provides a small boost. However a small number of titles hate this setting. It's enabled by default.

Store EFB Copies to Texture Only - Enabled by default. Disable it only when running a game that requires it. Refer this page for a list of titles that require disabling it.